Arlington House, built in 1905, was a traditional and very institutional hostel, originally housing 1,100 homeless men in highly crowded conditions. It was redesigned in 1985 to accommodate 400 in still unsatisfactory conditions.

Novas Group, current owners and managers of Arlington House, intended to ‘de-institutionalise’ the hostel environment and introduce a more welcoming and pro-active environment that assists its residents to return to productive life within the community.  Seen as a ‘step change’ in the manner in which services within hostels are provided and how they are perceived, the idea was well received by Camden and DCLG intended to contribute funding towards the regeneration of Arlington House.

Lichfield Planning were invited to prepare a Planning Risk Assessment and Management report and to advise on and coordinate experts’ inputs on all planning aspects, including housing matters, environment, transportation and employment.  The risk assessment revealed several issues which were then mitigated by the client's design team, but the balance of proposed hostel units against public function spaces remained low at 94 units. The client did not accept our advice to slightly increase the number of units and Camden and DCLG withdrew their support from the scheme.